Video – How To Count the Number of Words in MS Word Documents

If you want to know how many words are in your document, then use the Microsoft Word Word Count tool to count them for you.

How To Count Words In MS Word

This free tool is built into Microsoft Word, but you may have it turned off on your menu settings. I had and I didn’t know where it was until I dug around!

To turn it back on:
  • Click Tools
  • Click Customize
  • Select Word Count from the list of items
Now, you’re ready to count the number of words in your Marketing Plans, Technical Documents, User Guides, Policy Documents or Business Plans. And if you’re a freelance writer or make a living working online, it’s ideal as you can see how many words you’ve written and how many more you need to make your page count! Sound good?

What Does the Word Count Actually Count?

It can tell you how many:
  • Pages
  • Paragraphs
  • Lines
…are in your document. It can also count the number of characters, either including or not including spaces.

Video – Count Total Number of Words in Document

How to Use the Word Count toolbar

As you add text to your document, you don’t have to click Word Count on the Tools menu each time you want a recount. Instead, turn on the Word Count toolbar, and click Recount to update the word count. What tools do you use to count the number of words you’ve written?